Wine Advisor
Noon Winery, Eclipse 2001
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 2001 Eclipse (65% Grenache and 35% Shiraz from 56-65 year old vines) is still closed aromatically, but with coaxing reveals potentially fabulous quality. An opaque purple color is followed by aromas of charcoal, smoke, blackberries, and sweet cherries. This full-bodied, rich, beautifully delineated effort is extraordinarily pure as well as incredibly persistent on the palate (close to one minute). Aged in a combination of new and old large American oak hogsheads for 18 months and bottled unfiltered, it appears to have tremendous up-side potential, although I suspect many readers will not be able to defer their gratification ... and why should they? Drink it over the next decade. Importer: Dan Philips, The Grateful Palate, Oxnard, CA; tel. (888) 472-5283
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The opaque purple-colored 2001 Eclipse (a 1,000 case blend of 65% Grenache and 35% Shiraz) possesses an extraordinary, full-bodied, concentrated style with sweet licorice, blackberry, and kirsch characteristics intermixed with hints of white flowers and smoky oak. This dense, voluptuously-textured, seductive red should provide thrilling drinking upon release in early 2003, and over the following 7-10 years. During my trip to South Australia I visited with owners Andrew and Rae Noon. They are part of the young, open-minded generation (Rea's father also made wine) that is guided by one goal ... to produce the most uncompromising product possible. In 2000, there are 750 cases of the Eclipse, 260 of the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, and 350 of the Shiraz Reserve, all three staggeringly great efforts from a vintage that, on paper, should not have produced wines this prodigious. Interestingly, I had a chance to taste the Noon offerings opened in my presence against bottles opened twenty-four and seventy-two hours earlier. Remarkably, there was not much difference. Even from bottles that had been opened for three days, the wines were still exhibiting incredible amounts of fruit as well as concentration. This always indicates the potential for longevity. Importer: Dan Philips, The Grateful Palate, Oxnard, CA; tel. (888) 472-5283
About the Producer
The founder of Noon Winery is David Noon (David Noon). In 1976, he started making red wine for a living. Later, David Noon bought a bit of Shiraz and blended it with Grenache grapes to make the winery's signature red wine. He originally named this full-bodied red wine "Burgundy", but it is now called "Eclipse". After that, in the next 27 years, the winery's winemaking technology and wine production have not undergone any changes. The vineyards of Norn Winery cover a total of 16.79 acres, and the grape varieties planted include Grenache, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. From 934 to 1943, Grenache was planted, Syrah in the early 1960s, and Cabernet Sauvignon in the early 1970s. The vines are planted at a density of approximately 1,800 vines/ha. In terms of wine production, the wines of Norn Winery are all hand-brewed, using traditional open fermentation barrels and basket presses, and the output is very small. The wine is aged in oak barrels for 18 months before being bottled without any clarification or filtration. In the process of wine making and maturation, the content of additives and the degree of human intervention are reduced to the minimum, so as to keep the natural characteristics of the grapes as much as possible.
